Nick Saban is famous for commonly spewing out his favorite vocal pause during rants. The word “aight” is synonymous with the head coach, to the point where it’s printed on T-shirts and posters with his likeness.
Sunday, Crimson Tide fans were introduced to a new filler word as Pete Golding took part in his annual preseason press conference. Like his head coach, the defensive coordinator likes to ramble on a bit during answers. Those long-winded responses are commonly broken up by Golden questioning “right,” which serves as sort of a rhetorical affirmation that the public is following along.
Sunday's press conference featured a whopping 108 rights over a 14-minute span. Two wrongs might not make a right, but nine dozen rights… Well, you get the picture.
All jokes aside, Pete Golding isn’t paid for his public speaking. His job is orchestrating defensive schemes capable of slowing down today’s high-powered offenses. Hearing him rattle off terminology in that vernacular is a sort of poetry.
For example, Golding capped off his media availability by intricately breaking down a question concerning the advantage of the 4-2-5 defense. Taking out the unnecessary “rights,” the coordinator eloquently explained Alabama’s defense approach in roughly 300 words.
“If you look at us from a base down structure, the people that we play, we're in that 90% of the time on a base down,” Golding began. “So, outside looking in, you're going to break us down as a 4-2-5, and if they put big people in the game, then we're gonna put big people in the game. That's when we'll go 3-4. So, about 80% of base downs were in 4-2-5 structure. The difference for us is, you know that fourth D lineman is an outside backer, so it gives you the flexibility to drop him in coverage or bring him.”
Golding went a bit more in-depth from there.
“So again, that's a three-free mindset, but that outside backer for us is used to be at the end of the line,” he continued. “So it obviously is the coverage concepts, you know, two by two principles are pretty easy well when they get to three by one where they're putting guys, used to be, hey, the Y is going to be at three right, so now you can play your games on one or two, you can still double the backside X because that's gonna be the isolation. That's their guy, but now they're putting speed at three, their fastest guy to the trips side, and they're putting their best at X. So then now is that dilemma for the backside safety hey do I want to take it to three cuz we got a backer on him and your nickel that's the money backer, and I'm the leave the backside X isolated or now hey I'm a double the backside X, and have speed there.
“So you know we run multiple different personnel groupings, whether it's 3-4 from a 4-2 structure, or a dime structural we’ve got six DBs in, but the biggest thing on that is the coverage change-ups, based on what they do.”
Alabama fans might have varying opinions on Golding, but there’s no doubting his knowledge of the game. And for the most part, he’s been able to instill that proficiency into his players on the field.
During Golding’s second year in charge of the defense last season, Alabama led the SEC, limiting opponents to 19.4 points per game. The Tide also ranked third in the conference in total defense (352.2 yards allowed per game), pass defense (239.2 yapg) and run defense (113.08 yapg).
While those averages were good enough to guide Alabama to a perfect 14-0 record, 40-point defensive breakdowns against Ole Miss and Florida put a stain on Golding’s success. Although to be fair, the Tide's deficiencies weren’t usually the product of a faulty defensive philosophy.
“When you look back at last year when you didn’t play well, whether it’s giving up yards or giving up points, it always comes back to two things,” Golding said. “From a communications standpoint, all 11 guys on the same page. So we make a mental error, nothing that they did, everything that we didn’t do, giving up explosive plays, which we had way too many of last year. And the other is the missed tackle. A scheme is designed to stop it, you put the kid in the situation, and we didn’t finish the play. Those are the two things we’re really working on in fall camp.”
Alabama should have the personnel this season to improve on last year’s performance. While the Tide loses three influential starters in defensive tackle Christian Barmore, linebacker Dylan Moses and cornerback Patrick Surtain II this offseason, it returns one of the nation’s most talent-laden units, featuring five preseason first-team All-SEC members in defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis, linebackers Will Anderson Jr., Christian Harris and Henry To’o To’o and defensive backs Josh Jobe and Malachi Moore.
“I’m excited about the guys coming back,” Golding said. “From a leadership standpoint, we’ve got a lot of guys stepping up and showing people how to do it. I think that’s a big difference for this group. I think they learned that from last year. You can do this all you want. Show me, don’t tell me. I think we’ve got some guys who are going about it the right way, preparing off the field the right way, taking care of their bodies off the field, so I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”
Alabama’s collection of defensive stars creates somewhat of a defining situation for Golding entering his third season in charge of the unit. Many have projected this year’s defense to be one of the Tide’s all-time best, putting a bit of pressure on the coordinator to make sure that talent translates onto the field. Sunday, Golding embraced those expectations, stating that Alabama’s standard is to produce the No. 1 unit in the nation.
“That's not gonna change,” Golding said. “That's who we are. That's this place. That's how they've been. That's the expectation. That's how it should be."
Right?
